Voices of the Vancouver Canucks

Voices of the Canucks Go Canucks Go! Lesson 4 | Suggested Grades: 6-8 Lesson Plan

Objectives: The Big Idea Students will.... When thinking of the Vancouver Canucks, how often do you think about the • Learn about famous broadcasters who bring us the games on television or on radio each and every Vancouver Canuck week? Without the voices of these great people, hockey would not be what it is broadcasters today. It is the great radio broadcasters of the Vancouver Canucks who make the • Be able to identify what a great game come to life for all to enjoy. Names like Jim Robson, Tom Larscheid, broadcaster is and does John Shorthouse and Jim Hughson are synonymous with the Canucks. • Research, highlight and take notes on a broad- Opening Motivator (10 min) caster 1. Listen to a few clips of past or present Vancouver Canuck broadcasters. • Present information they There are many on you tube, here are a few that you may wish to use: have gathered in a creative manner • http://youtu.be/PSdIHTx1-DE – Jim Robson: game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZaTuRtFjak – Tom Larscheid speech in Curricula Links: 2010 playoffs • Language Arts • http://youtu.be/kHOdeh7x2sU – Various clips of Tom’s colour commentary • Social Studies • Health and Career 2. Discuss highlights of each clip – what makes each clip so good? Education 3. Students can share thoughts with the class • Fine Arts • Technology Education Classroom Activity (35 min) 1. Write the word broadcaster on the board. Materials: 2. Give the students a few minutes to write down as many words that they can • Photocopies or overhead think of when they see/hear the word broadcaster of Famous Hockey 3. Have students share their ideas with the rest of the class Broadcaster Quotes 4. Create a class web on the board for all to see (feel free to have the students (Appendix 1.1) copy the web into their notebooks) • Random hockey cards to 5. Distribute (or place on an overhead) Famous Hockey Broadcaster Quotes be used as examples, tag (Appendix 1) to students. Read as a class and have students comment on cut into 5 X7 (one for each their favourite and why? student) 6. Take time to focus on what the students feel makes a good broadcaster • Pencils, fine liners, 7. Write the following names on the board/overhead: 1. Jim Robson 2. Tom colouring material Larscheid 3. John Shorthouse 4. Jim Hughson 8. Randomly go around the classroom giving a number from 1-6 to each student. All number 1’s will be responsible for Jim Robson, number 2’s Tom Youth EDUCATION PROGRAMS Larscheid, etc... 9. Each student is expected to come to class the next day with information they Youth EDUCATION PROGRAMS have gathered on the broadcaster they have received.

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Proudly supported by Youth EDUCATION PROGRAMS Honouring The Past. Inspiring The Future. 10. Motivate the students by letting them know that once they have gathered information on their broadcaster, they will create their very own Voices of the Canucks hockey card.

Teaching Tip Have some hockey cards that you may show to motivate the students. They may also want to use a hockey card as a template for creating their own on the Voices of the Canucks.

In the Lab - Powerpoint Presentations (50 min – Day 2) 1. Use the web links provided to get students started on their research 2. Students may wish to Google the name of their broadcaster to locate additional information 3. Students are to gather information on the broadcaster they received 4. They may wish to also gather images or pictures 5. Time in the lab is to be used wisely as next day they will be back in class creating their Voices of the Canucks hockey cards

Teaching Tip The final day of the lesson will have the students back in class creating their very own hockey card on the voices of the Canucks – be sure to have the tag paper pre-cut into 5 X 7 and ensure that all the student are equipped with pencils, fine liners and colouring material.

Conclusion and Reflections: (5 min) 1. Students can share 3 things they learned about their broadcaster 2. Have the students share what it means to be a broadcaster

Extension Ideas • Create a Voices of the Canucks bulletin board and display the hockey cards • Have the students create their own famous broadcaster quotes and put them around the classroom • Draw the student’s attention to the fact that the majority of broadcasters are male. Introduce Cassie Campbell (an ex-Canadian Women’s National Team hockey player, Olympic gold medalist and first women TV broadcaster) and have the students discuss/debate the role of women and men in media. • Public Speaking – have the students present the information they gathered on their broadcaster • Have student take turns broadcasting activities in a PE class or a school sport activity • Have the students write scripts and prepare research notes for a broadcast of a clip from a 1994 Canucks playoff game – they could watch a section of one of the games and prepare a draft script for interviewing one of the players after the game or prepare a notes sheet (ex. Stats such as goals, assists, penalty minutes, time on the ice, number of shifts, etc.) that they would use while broadcasting • Research what it takes to be a broadcaster • Drama – have the students create a scene where they are the broadcaster

Web Links • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Vancouver_Canucks_broadcasters • http://canucks.nhl.com/club/page.htm?bcid=122 Youth EDUCATION PROGRAMS

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Proudly supported by Youth EDUCATION PROGRAMS Honouring The Past. Inspiring The Future. Appendices Go Canucks Go! Lesson 4 | Suggested Grades: 6-8 Appendix 1.0

Jim Robson: Sports Broadcaster

To many British Columbians, Jim Robson is the voice of hockey. Over the course of his 47 year broadcasting career, Robson called the action for more than 2,000 NHL games on radio and television. He broadcast 4 Stanley Cup Finals and 5 NHL All-Star Games for Hockey Night in Canada, but is remembered best for his 24 years broadcasting Canucks games on radio for CKNW. When the Canucks jumped to the NHL, he was there for the very first game on October 9, 1970 doing play-by-play for the HNIC television broadcast.

His trademark line used to open every broadcast: “Good eve- ning hockey fans and welcome to this National Hockey League game...”. It became nearly as well-known as his regular nod to those listening at home: “...at this time it is my pleasure to welcome to the broadcast all the shut-ins, the pensioners, the blind, and all of those people who can’t get out to watch hockey games.” Robson’s career has been honoured numerous times including induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992 and the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2000,

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Proudly supported by Youth EDUCATION PROGRAMS Honouring The Past. Inspiring The Future. Appendices Go Canucks Go! Lesson 4 | Suggested Grades: 6-8 Appendix 1.1

Tom Larscheid

“Bingo, Bango, Bongo they call him Roberto Luongo!”

“They look like a bunch of Keystone Cops!”

“There’s a freight train on the loose!”

“Shake it like a Polaroid picture!”

“Oh how Swede it is!” – commenting on the Sedin brothers

“Don’t you just love it?”

“Move over Stan Smyl, you have some company baby!” - reaction after Trevor Linden ties a record held by the previous Canuck captain Stan Smyl

“Call the cops! Another robbery! Wait till you see this one folks they’ll play it on the highlight taps on the news tonight!”

Jim Robson

“He’ll play. You bet he’ll play. He’ll play on crutches. And he’ll play, on Tuesday night, at Madison Square Gar- den.” – Jim Robson on Trevor Linden’s determination even after breaking his nose a second time during the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs)

“Linden carries the puck into the Toronto zone, turning off the left boards, back at the line to Babych, long shot, Potvin had trouble with it! Adams shoots scores! GREG ADAMS! GREG ADAMS! GREG ADAMS! ADAMS GETS THE WINNER 14 SECONDS INTO THE SECOND OVERTIME! THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS ARE GOING TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS!”

“A special hello to hospital patients and shut-ins, the pensioners, the blind, all the people who don’t get out to games but enjoy the hockey broadcasts...” – Jim Robson’s standard hello to those unable to attend games live given every game he broadcast.

Youth EDUCATION PROGRAMS Jim Hughson

“Grrrrrrrrrreat save Luongo!”Youth EDUCATION PROGRAMS

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